How to make sure you get the fix for the Samsung keyboard exploit

Two days after word of an unlikely-but-real exploit involving the stock keyboard in a number of current Samsung smartphones was revealed, we're getting more details about the fix.

Samsung in a blog post today has further explained what to expect in regards to upcoming software fixes to the way its stock keyboard updates itself. As was disclosed earlier this week, it's theoretically possible for an attacker to piggyback on the language packages as they're updating, if you (and the attacker) are on the same unsecure network. It's unlikely — and Samsung today says "there have been no reported customer cases" of phones being compromised by this exploit since the June 16 announcement — but it's still possible.

New security policy updates will push out "in a few days," Samsung says in the post, "to invalidate potential vulnerabilities caused by this issue."

How to get your pictures out of Facebook and into Google Photos

Facebook basically does the bare minimum when it comes to giving you your photos back, and that's really unfortunate.

Most of us have a lot of photos in Facebook, but don't actually use that platform as a long-term storage solution. That's probably a good idea considering how photos are handled on the service, and making the move to something like Google Photos instead is something to consider. Unfortunately the data export tools for Facebook are pretty bad, leaving you with lots of issues when it comes to getting every photo out of the service and over to something new.

But there's no better time to get this done than now, and we're going to explain all of the caveats related to getting your photos from Facebook to Google Photos.

How to move your OneDrive pictures to Google Photos

OneDrive has its draws as a photo locker, but if you've chosen to move to Google Photos it's a simple process.

With great cross-device syncing — particularly if you use Windows devices — and very cheap storage options, OneDrive is a great choice for storing photos and plenty of other things. But if you're ready to give Google Photos a try instead, it's a simple move that will only take a few minutes to set up.

Microsoft makes it super easy to download specific albums or every single one of your photos, and if you've installed the OneDrive app on your computer this process is going to be even easier. Let us show you how to get it done.

Switch LG G4's Settings to list view

Settings is an app that we rely on more than almost any other. You can replace a launcher if you don't like it, but the Settings app that came on your phone is the one you've got.

Settings is not an app the average user leisurely scrolls through while they're waiting for the bus. You get in, change what you need to, and get out. Settings is also an app that doesn't change that radically, either. Even for all of Samsung's UI tweaks, they left the Settings on the Samsung Galaxy S6 in one big list with some quick links at the top. Settings is the dependable old road you can take home, even while the rest of the neighborhood changes. The LG G4 turned that trusty old road into an ever-changing desert.

The ultimate guide to Google Maps on Android

Google Maps is an amazingly powerful tool that can help you get anywhere, and see anything.

Whether you want to drive to a new place in the shortest amount of time, navigate a public transit system that you're still learning or get recommendations for things around you, Google Maps is an all-encompassing app that can do it. It offers real time traffic data, transit directions, a massive directory of places and an impressively large set of satellite imagery all at your fingertips.

An app as huge as this deserves plenty of your time to learn how to use it just right, so we've pulled together all of our information, help and tips on the subject into one place — the ultimate guide to Google Maps.

How to handle wireless charging in big phones

Making everything bigger introduces new problems, but the solutions are often fairly simple.

We might as well call facts facts; big smartphones aren't going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, our mobile devices are going to continue to push the envelope. For the most part, the people who enjoy these devices can all agree it's a good thing. There are a couple of situations, however, where having a big phone can present unique challenges. A perfect example is wireless charging, which seems like it would be easier with a larger phone but more often than not means you have to be unreasonably specific about how your phone sits on whatever platter you've purchased.

In a perfect world these devices would all have guiding magnets to make things easier — RIP Nexus 5 — but since that doesn't happen we've got some quick tips on making wireless charging a little easier.

How to move your Flickr pictures to Google Photos

Google Photos is a great new system, but you need to get your existing photos up there somehow.

If Flickr has been your photo system of choice — and we wouldn't blame you with 1TB of free storage — up to this point, then you'll have to download all of your photos from there in order to get your Google Photos library started. Unlike Dropbox there's no way to automatically download your Flickr photos to your computer, so this will take a few extra steps and manual downloads.

But if you're committed to moving things over to Google Photos, it'll be worth it. We'll show you how to get your Flickr library downloaded and moved over to something new.

Using Dual Window on the LG G4

While phones have gotten bigger and bigger, we've still (mostly) only been using one app at a time on these growing screens. On the LG G4, you can take full advantage of its 5.5 inches.

Sometimes you want to take notes while you watch a video, but you only have one device with you. Sometimes, you need to reference the numbers from your spreadsheet while you draft and email. Or maybe you just wanna watch the Android Central Podcast while you sort out your email in a vain attempt at achieving Inbox Zero.

Whatever you needs may be, Dual Window on the LG G4 is here to help, and while there may not be a lot of apps supported right now, the ones that are will help you get things done.

How to use Content Lock on the LG G4

With your phone staying unlocked in more places and around more of our gadgets, sometimes a simple PIN isn't quite enough.

There are pictures you don't want your kids to get into, and there are some documents that you don't want anyone to get into. While locking and encrypting your phone are steps in the right direction, if your phone tends to be out and unlocked around the people in your life — kids, spouses, coworkers and friends — then you may want something a little different for hiding your stuff.

To this end, LG provides Content Lock on many of its phones, including the LG G4. Content lock can hide specific types of content behind yet another passcode so that maybe, just maybe, the items you want to keep private will actually be private.

How to move your Dropbox pictures over to Google Photos

One of the biggest hurdles in moving to Google Photos is getting your old library uploaded from where it is now.

With the ubiquity of Dropbox throughout multiple platforms and its great automatic uploading from your phone and desktop, there's a decent chance you've used it to back up your photos. Whether you have a Dropbox folder structure with a defined hierarchy of categorization or several folders spread all about from various times, it's still going to be a hassle to drag-and-drop individual folders out of Dropbox and over to Google Photos.

Thankfully with just a few steps and a couple of desktop applications you can let your computer do the work for you, pulling images from Dropbox and then swiftly moving them up to Google Photos. We're going to show you how.

Using Periscope's notification settings

As phones and technology progress, so does the way we interact with them. One thing never changes though, and its the fact that we all like to have control over when our phones decide to tell us about things. Some of us like a notification for every interaction across social networks, and then there are those who only want to hear their phones go off for something of monumental importance.

It's definitely a pleasant surprise to see an app that takes its audience into consideration with where, and how their notification settings work. Getting there, and changing things within Periscope is about as simple and straightforward as it gets.

How to use Google Cardboard

Google's simple VR platform can be used anywhere and everywhere, but there are a few things you should do for an optimal experience.

One of the great things about Google Cardboard is how portable it is. While not every version of Cardboard is fully collapsible, even when fully set up these accessories don't take up a lot of space, and for the most part you can just pop your smartphone in and get up and running. It's the perfect platform for quick VR experiences, and is simple enough that you can pass things around to the group and not have to worry about a learning curve for use — which makes comparing it to full immersion platforms like the HTC Vive-powered Steam VR platform easy.

Here's a quick intro to using Cardboard, as well as a few tips for getting the most out of the platform.

Use the Google Drive desktop app to save local copies of your Google Photos library

Google Photos is primarily an online experience, but you can take things offline for your own backup with Google Drive.

One of the best features of Google Photos is that you can access your pictures from any device that has a web browser or a Google Photos app, but the fact that it's kind of a black box and you don't know where exactly your photos are can be a little bothersome. Sure you can download copies of any photo you want from your library, but having an automatic local copy of photos as they are uploaded is even better.

With the Google Drive desktop app and a few tweaks you can have just that — we'll show you how to set it up and a few of the limitations of the system.

How to turn off the weather animation on the LG G4 lock screen

If you work in an office without windows, seeing if it's raining on your lock screen seems like a great idea. But sometimes, it just isn't.

Maybe the rain animation on your phone just reminds you that you can't go for that jog or force the kids to go outside to play and give you five minutes of peace. Maybe you think it's a waste of memory and processor power. Maybe it just looks weird with your wallpaper. Whatever the case may be, you don't need an animation on your LG G4's lock screen pretending your phone's in a shower.

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